{"id":16757,"date":"2025-02-25T12:19:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T17:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/?p=16757"},"modified":"2025-09-14T17:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:50:16","slug":"from-lyndas-journal_red-december_poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/from-lyndas-journal_red-december_poem\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynda’s Journal – Poem – Memories of a Red December"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lynda\u2019s Journal – Poem Memories of a Red December<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

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In this poem I am celebrating my joy of rural\u00a0 life as I think\u00a0 about the landscape and personal observations with the weather, an aging neighbor, and joy of my lifelong encounters\u00a0 in the Village . My roots in this village go back many generations\u00a0 in my family history.\u00a0 I am inspired by the everyday activities, caring for my dogs and cats,\u00a0 and pleasure of seasonal changes.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

I celebrate the unexpected\u00a0 colors of\u00a0 RED, as I view the gifts\u00a0 of nature, people, fashion, dancing, and changing seasons, from my perspective in the Village of Wurtemburg, in western Pennsylvania. <\/em><\/h4>\n

Rural Life is good in my valley along the Connoquenessing Creek.<\/em><\/h4>\n

~Lynda McKinney Lambert<\/p>\n

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The Poem:\u00a0 Red December<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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Photo:
__Red Shoes__
by Lynda McKinney Lambert<\/p><\/div>\n

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Red December<\/p>\n

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New-fallen snow glimmers in ore-dawn darkness<\/p>\n

slender red barberries dangle from thin bare branches<\/p>\n

I shuffle my feet, dig in to feel solid ground<\/p>\n

near the place where my Father\u2019s red roses<\/p>\n

are surrounded by pillows of snow<\/p>\n

slumbering safe in dark red December.<\/p>\n

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My heavy suede boots part the snow<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too early for the red cardinals<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do they go at night?\u201d<\/p>\n

A sharp wind makes me huddle deeper into my bright<\/p>\n

red boucle\u2019 jacket<\/p>\n

while my two dogs search random trails<\/p>\n

follow the long marks, meander downhill.<\/p>\n

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On a crisp day in mid-December<\/p>\n

I desire red raspberry jam on warm toast<\/p>\n

Linger by the tall pampas grass<\/p>\n

weighted down to the ground with icy snow<\/p>\n

I think of strawberry Sundays with whipped cream<\/p>\n

I recall wearing Neiman Marcus Red lipstick and<\/p>\n

dancing all night in<\/p>\n

hot red stilettos and tight blue jeans.<\/p>\n

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We turn around \u2013 for the return home<\/p>\n

the dogs circle in the frozen pachysandra patches<\/p>\n

stiff, brown-green\u00a0 shrunken leaves.<\/p>\n

In memories I see my neighbor walking to her car<\/p>\n

she wears a cranberry red hat, worsted red wool coat, flat, scarlet red shoes<\/p>\n

carries a true-red leather handbag like the one I bought last Sunday.<\/p>\n

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I watched her from the upstairs window.<\/p>\n

In her 80s, she revealed how to live a gallant life.<\/p>\n

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No cars pass us on the country road \u00a0this morning in red December<\/p>\n

Where it is perpetual winter.<\/p>\n

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Date of writing: Red December<\/em> (2016) free-form\u00a0 poem<\/p>\n

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Published:<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

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First Published _<\/strong> <\/em><\/h3>\n

Pro verse Hong Kong Poetry Prize for Single\u00a0 Poem \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Verse<\/p>\n

Accepted August 27, 2017 (Submittable)<\/p>\n

Published: 2017, Anthology, Mingled Voices 2.(Page 61-2)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Additional Publications of\u00a0 Red December<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

_Lambert, Lynda McKinney. Star Signs<\/u><\/em>, DLD Books, 2019<\/p>\n

_Lambert, Lynda McKinney. first snow,<\/em> chapbook, 30 Poems, Finishing Line Press, 2020- p16<\/p>\n

_The Writer\u2019s Grapevine,<\/em> (Patty Fletcher) December 2020.<\/p>\n

_Newsreel<\/em>, Lynda recorded the poem, December issue, 2022.<\/p>\n

_Poem From the Professor\u2019s Journal, Walking by Inner Vision Blog, December 7, 2022.<\/p>\n

_Voice Recording for ACB Christmas_2023.<\/p>\n

_From Lynda\u2019s Journal, my blog.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, February 25,\u00a0 2025.<\/p>\n

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Do you know:<\/p>\n

I have SIX published books:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Each Day Hold Some Small\u00a0 Joy : Poems, DLD Books, 2024
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Songs for the Pilgrimage, <\/em>DLD Books, 2021.<\/p>\n

first snow, Finishing Line Press, 2020. \u2013See it here!<\/a><\/p>\n

Star Signs: New & Selected Poems<\/em>, DLD Books,\u00a0 2019.<\/p>\n

Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems, <\/em>DLD Books,\u00a0 2017.<\/p>\n

Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, <\/em>Kota Press, 2003. (Out of print)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a9<\/a>Lynda McKinney Lambert, 2025.<\/p>\n

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Published:<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n

first snow <\/a>,<\/em> a chapbook.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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